If those jaspers flash any part of the
roll in the Territory before snowfall, I'll get them. I've got to get
them, to square myself."
"That would be my idea, if I were in your place," he answered. "If
they're like the average run of men that turn a trick of that kind,
they'll give themselves away in the long run. It's lucky, in a way, that
you had paper money instead of gold; the big bills will be their
downfall if they undertake to spend them in this country--and if old
Hans had it straight, they're not going to pull out with a measly ten
thousand dollars. It's an ugly mess, and liable to be worse before it's
cleaned up. If there is a stake like that _cached_ around the Stone,
these land pirates will camp mighty close on the trail of anybody that
goes looking for it. And it won't be any Sunday-school picnic dealing
with them--they showed a strong hand there," he motioned to the place
where Rutter lay.
"The best thing we can do," he continued, "is to drag it for Pend
d' Oreille, afoot. We have two extra horses there. We can get a little
sleep and move early in the morning. I'll have to report this thing in
person at Walsh, but before I do I want to know if Hank Rowan was really
killed at Stony Crossing. If we find him there as Rutter said, you can
gamble that trouble has camped in our dooryard for a lengthy stay.
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